ROGER BALLEN

Roger Ballen was born in New York in 1950 but for over 30 years he has lived and worked in South Africa. His work as a geologist took him out into the countryside and led him to take up his camera and explore the hidden world of small South African towns. At first he explored the empty streets in the glare of the midday sun but, once he had made the step of knocking on people’s doors, he discovered a world inside these houses which was to have a profound effect on his work. These interiors with their distinctive collections of objects and the occupants within these closed worlds took his unique vision on a path from social critique to the creation of metaphors for the inner mind.

In his artistic practice Ballen has increasingly been won over by the possibilities of integrating photography and drawing. He has expanded his repertoire and extended his visual language. By integrating drawing into his photographic and video works, the artist has not only made a lasting contribution to the field of art, but equally has made a powerful commentary about the human condition and its creative potential.

His contribution has not been limited to stills photography. Ballen has been the creator of a number of acclaimed and exhibited short films that dovetail with his photographic series. The collaborative film I Fink You Freeky, created for the cult band Die Antwoord in 2012, has garnered over 85 million hits on YouTube.

Ballen’s work is included in more than forty prestigious museum collections, amongst which Tate Britain, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musee de l’Elysee, Lausanne; and Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, to name a few. Reflex Amsterdam is the exclusive dealer of Ballen’s Polaroids worldwide.

Courtesy Reflex Amsterdam